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Friday, January 17, 2014

Racing in Reno: A Brief Story of Friendship, Track, and Sportsmanship

Today I'm passing on a little love from
my hometown, Reno. I'm really excited to share this story with all of
you because one of the young men involved, Drew Rippingham, is the
son of my third grade teacher. Drew and the other boy, Jack, are
currently students at my old high school, and the middle school track
program mentioned is also something I was part of back in the day. So
this story feels very personal to me, and I hope it makes you smile,
too.

Last year, then-eighth graders Drew
Rippingham and Jack Rovetti developed a strong friendship thanks to a
shared love of track and field. Both boys participated in the sport
at Swope Middle School in Reno, NV and competed in the same event.

The two boys didn't know each other
before the beginning of track season, but at the first meet, Drew
noticed that Jack, who has Down Syndrome, looked a little lost.

"At that first track meet, Jack
was standing in a group of kids waiting for his race and didn't
really know where to go,” said Diana Rovetti, Jack's mom. “This
kid (Drew), on that day, said, 'Come race with me.' At every single
meet after that, he ran next to Jack in the heats. He's a really good
athlete. He could have been winning these races, but he ran beside
Jack and encouraged him. He did this on his own."

Drew and Jack at a meet.

The boys finished every heat together.
Drew, however, was not satisfied with Jack simply finishing the
races; he wanted Jack to know the joy and excitement of crossing the
finish line before anyone else. He wanted his friend to win.

When the last race of the season
arrived, Drew talked to all of the other competitors in the race and
told them about Jack. When he asked how they felt about helping him
let Jack take the win, all the boys agreed.

Six boys lined up for the start of the
100 meter dash: four from other local middle schools, then Jack, then
Drew. The gun sounded, and they all took off. Jack took the lead, and
as he crossed the finish line, his fellow competitors circled around
him and showered him with high fives, slaps on the back, and
congratulations.

"It was very touching," said
Jim Rippingham, Drew's father. "There were a lot of tears, to
tell you the truth, once people in the stands kind of figured out
what was happening."

Yes, the race was fixed, but that's not
the point. A 14-year-old boy got a group of other 14-year-old boys to
set aside their competitive nature and do something nice for another
student without expecting to gain anything in return. Selfless is not
typically a word used to describe middle school boys, but here is
this group of young human beings being nice to another human being,
bonding and growing over a shared interest. It's fantastic.

Even though nothing was expected in
return, Drew and Jack's friendship and the story of their final race
just earned Swope Middle School's track program a $1000 grant from
Liberty Mutual Insurance and the Positive Coaching Alliance as one of
the “Top 10 Responsible Sports Moments” of 2013. That's the power
of friendship!